By C. Perera, JadeTimes News
Alibaba Group Holding is enhancing support for clothing merchants on its Taobao and Tmall platforms by offering overseas shipment subsidies, as it steps up its competition against rivals Shein and Temu. According to a statement from the Hangzhou based company, merchants on Taobao and Tmall can join Alibaba's new global free shipping plan, allowing them to sell products directly to consumers in various international markets.
The programme targets merchants in the pan fashion category, which includes men’s and women’s garments, sports and outdoor apparel, shoes, bags, and accessories.
Alibaba stated that "Taobao apparel merchants have a great advantage on a global scale" due to their extensive e commerce experience and strong supply chain capabilities. Eligible merchants need only send their products to a designated consolidation warehouse in China, with Alibaba handling the cross border logistics. This service currently covers markets in Asia, including Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, and South Korea.
This new initiative intensifies Alibaba's efforts to compete with Shein, a popular fast fashion retailer, and Temu, an international budget shopping platform operated by PDD Holdings. Alibaba's previous overseas online shopping platforms, such as AliExpress and Lazada, have been outperformed by Shein, Temu, and ByteDance's TikTok Shop.
Temu recently introduced a similar "one stop service" to attract more Chinese merchants, handling pricing, marketing, and consumer services, while merchants and manufacturers ship goods to designated warehouses in China.
Additionally, in March, Alibaba’s smart logistics arm Cainiao and international e commerce unit AliExpress expanded their five day global delivery service to the United States, following its initial launch in Germany, France, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, and Mexico last year. Expedited delivery services have become critical for cross border e commerce platforms aiming to increase orders.
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